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Iraq and the Kurds: Confronting Withdrawal Fears
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A to Z Guide Afghanistan Assistance
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State-Building, Stability, and Oil as "Shared Competency" in Iraq
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DOD SocioCultural Data
(2011)
  The Future of HTS

 

 

  Future Support for Peacetime Engagement
 
  “The committee continues to support the concept behind the Human Terrain Teams (HTT) and the overall Human Terrain System (HTS). In the committee report (H. Rept. 110-652) accompanying the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, the committee expressed support for expansion of the HTT concept, including to other combatant command areas of responsibility.”
  --House Armed Services Committee, Committee Report to House Resolution 2647
 
  “The conditions of irregular warfare, counter-insurgency operations, and stability operations have placed a premium on the mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops, time available, and civil considerations. Civil considerations focus on the socio-cultural aspects of the local populations that commanders and staffs must consider in the military decision-making process. This reality is well documented in Office of the Secretary of Defense studies and analyses, Army doctrine and concepts, and in operational requirements and feedback from commanders in the field. Social science research and analysis will continue to be a critical capability in both post operations and in peacetime engagements.”
  --2010 US Army Posture Statement
 
  While HTS was developed While HTS was developed as a response to current operational gaps, socio-cultural capabilities can have significant effect before conflicts begin. Beyond the current operations, socio-cultural capabilities are envisioned as a critical resource for Combatant Commanders to implement theater engagement plans. Social science research and analysis capabilities will be employed prior to conflict in areas of interest to COCOMs. COCOMs will direct research & analysis efforts focused toward gathering AOR-relevant human terrain data and information in potential future trouble spots through directed field research deployments, research studies, and other open source research activities. These activities will enable conflict deterrence and stability operations (Phase 0), then enable a responsive capacity for the COCOM during crisis response and transition to sustained combat operations (phases 1-4).


Support for future operational need can be found in a variety of sources

  • DOD studies & analyses highlight the need for social science support to current & future operations: The Defense Science Board 2006 Summary Study report “21st Century Strategic Technology Vectors” identifies “mapping the human terrain” as one of four operational capabilities necessary for future operations, underpinning the operational need for applications of social science to cultural understanding of the human layer of an area of operations.

    DoD’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Irregular Warfare Working Group (IWWG) identified a requirement for Social Science support.

    The Defense Science Board provides an example of a DoD study highlighting the potential of HTS to support peacetime operations:
      “The evolving Human Terrain System, which includes Human Terrain Teams, Reachback Research Center support, and ongoing knowledge base, seems likely to provide useful support to military units at all echelons, as well as to country teams and Provincial Reconstruction Teams engaged in all types of operations conducted among populations. The lessons learned from the OIF and OEF experiment with HTS is that baseline knowledge of the cultures and societies in areas where future operations might be conducted is more effective than developing critical capabilities and knowledge at the last minute. Such knowledge of human dynamics may also reduce the need for or scope of future military intervention.”
      --Report of the Defense Science Board on Understanding Human Dynamics, March 2009
     
      “Office of the Secretary of Defense OSD Human Terrain Initiative USD-I established three core competencies for Human Terrain capabilities to achieve the strategic objective of applying social science to positively affect decision processes and operations from strategic to tactical levels:
    • Build the human terrain knowledge base.
    • Build new human terrain visualization and analysis tools.
    • Recruit, train, and deploy human terrain experts to support commanders ”
      --USD-I brief to House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence staffer, 8 March 2008
     
     
  • DOD Policy initiatives demonstrated the need for an enduring capability: Examples include:
    • Office of the Secretary of Defense "OSD" Human Terrain Initiative. USD-I established three core competencies for Human Terrain capabilities to achieve the strategic objective of applying social science to positively affect decision processes and operations from strategic to tactical levels:

      • Build the human terrain knowledge base.
      • Build new human terrain visualization and analysis tools.
      • Recruit, train, and deploy human terrain experts to support commanders
    • Mapping the Human Terrain (Map-HT) Tool Kit approved as #2 priority JCTD in FY07.
    • OSD sociocultural working groups. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) led an (ISR Council-directed) effort to enable sociocultural data and databases to be shared across DOD. In FY11, the Defense Intelligence Socio-cultural Capabilities Council (DISCCC) was established by Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD-I) to develop and institutionalize socio-cultural capabilities across the Defense Intelligence Enterprise.
    • DIA and USD-I initiative to expand Socio-Cultural capabilities beyond Central Command (CENTCOM) to European Command (EUCOM), Pacific Command (PACOM), Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)
    • HTS funding requirements consistently validated from FY07 to FY10.

  • Army & Joint Doctrine and Concepts:
    • Joint operating concepts – irregular warfare.
    • Army/Marine doctrine – focus on populations

      • Field Manual (FM) 3-0 Operations:

      • "Operational variables describe not only the military aspects of an operational environment but also the population’s influence on it."
      • ”1-33. People base their actions on perceptions, assumptions, customs, and values. Cultural awareness helps identify points of friction within populations, helps build rapport, and reduces misunderstandings. It can improve a force’s ability to accomplish its mission and provide insight into individual and group intentions. However, cultural awareness requires training before deploying to an unfamiliar operational environment and continuous updating while deployed. Commanders develop their knowledge of the societal aspects within their areas of operations to a higher level of cultural astuteness, one that allows them to understand the impact of their operations on the population and prepares them to meet local leaders face-to-face.”
      • " FM 3-24/Marine Corps Warfighting Publication (MCWP) 3-33.5 Counterinsurgency:  “Successful conduct of counterinsurgency (COIN) operations depends on thoroughly understanding the society and culture within which they are being conducted.”
      • " In Chapter 3, FM 3-24 emphasizes six socio-cultural factors that require analysis in counterinsurgency operations (See Appendix C):


      • Socio-cultural factors:
      • Society
      • Social structure
      • Culture
      • Language
      • Power & authority
      • Interests


        • Stability Operations in an Era of Persistent Conflict -- Identifies Human Terrain as a gap and as a required capability.
        The U.S. Army Concept for the Human Dimension in Full Spectrum Operations 2015-2024.
        FM 2-0 Intelligence specifically cites use of HTS teams to support socio-cultural research and analysis:

        Paragraph 1-113. Five emerging capabilities that impact intelligence operations are:

        1. Biometrics.
        2. Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A).
        3. Human terrain analysis teams.
        4. Document and media exploitation (DOMEX).
        5. Red teaming.

        Paragraph 1-124. A headquarters may request a human terrain analysis team to assist with socio-cultural research and analysis.
        Paragraph 1-88. The Army uses the area structures capabilities, organizations, peoples, and events (ASCOPE) characteristics to describe civil considerations as part of the mission variables mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops, time available and civil considerations (METT-TC) during intelligence preparations of the battlefield (IPB) and mission analysis. Relevant information can be drawn from an ongoing analysis of the operational environment using the operational variables political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, information, physical environment and time (PMESII-PT).
        (See paragraph 1-2.) Additionally, the human terrain analysis team can provide detailed information and analysis pertaining to the socio-cultural factors involved in the operation.

      • Joint Operating Concept – Irregular Warfare
      • Army / Marine doctrine – focus on populations
        • FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5 Counterinsurgency
        • FM 3-0 Operations
        • FM 2-0 Intelligence
      • Stability Operations in an Era of Persistent Conflict
        • Identifies Human Terrain as a gap and as a required capability
      • Army Concept Human Dimension
    • The FY11 Army Campaign Plan includes “operating and sustaining Human Terrain System (HTS) teams” and “institutionalizing the HTS capability” as assigned Army tasks.
  • The Army’s 2009 TF 120 / BCT Modernization effort confirmed the capability gap in the future BCT and proposed Human Terrain Teams in the capability packages.
      “Need to develop and field new organizations (e.g. Human Terrain Teams) to provide commanders a more holistic perspective on operations conducted among the population”
      --ARCIC Task Force 120 WHITE PAPER: “COMPREHENSIVE LESSONS LEARNED” (9 Jun 09)
     
  • Support to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF HOA) and U.S. Army Africa: CJTF-HOA requested the MAP-HT Joint Capability Technology Demonstration hardware/software capabilities. Fielding to civil affairs (CA) troops began in Sep 09; HTS provided social science support personnel to Africa Command (AFRICOM) Headquarters & the CJTF in Oct 09. In FY11, U.S. Army Africa requested an HTS pilot program to support socio-cultural requirements, documented in their integrated priority list (IPL). Implementation began in 3rd Quarter, FY11.
    •  
  • The USD-I Consolidated Intelligence Guidance (CIG) tasks the Army to establish and operate a human terrain/sociocultural knowledge base & support center for DOD: "commence development and maintenance of a socio-cultural knowledge infrastructure (SKI) on behalf of the Defense Intel Enterprise by May 2012 to support the availability, analysis, and storage of sociocultural data to satisfy COCOM sociocultural information requirements.“
  • The Joint Staff Battlespace Awareness Functional Capabilities Board validated that HTS is an enduring capability with applications to Phase 0.


    • Source: Joint Capability Management System.
      Battlespace Awareness:

    • 2.1 Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance


    • 2.2 Environment

    • 2.1 Collect

    • 2.2.2 Analyze

    • 2.2.3 Predict

    • 2.2.4 Exploit

    }





    HTS Focus: Gather, and analyze sociocultural information
       


    •  
    • Future Support to COCOMs across the Spectrum of Conflict

      COCOMs identified a capability gap in embedded socio-cultural understanding in their areas of operation (AO) across all operational milieus – routine, crisis, conflict, post combat. These capability gaps include:

      • Analytical capability:

      o Deployable social science research and analysis (SSRA).
      o Reachback capability.
      o Trained & experienced personnel using structured research methods.

    • • Knowledge base.
      • Training.

      Current socio-cultural data associated with COIN and irregular warfare (IW) is not easily accessed and requires each analyst to conduct individual data discovery, capture, and analysis.

      HTS liaison and coordination with the geographic COCOMs resulted in an initial assessment of COCOM expectations and requirements. In FY11, HTS developed a concept of the operation (CONOP) for future COCOM support. The CONOP is designed to help address the validated socio-cultural capability gaps identified in the Joint Staff FY12-16 Capability Gap Assessment Results and Recommendations for Mitigating Capability Gaps Memorandum, JROCM 096-10, dated 9 Jun 10, which reflects the mission analysis process, COCOM’s IPL, and Commander’s Narrative Assessments.

      HTS provides an enduring, embedded, operationally relevant socio-cultural capability. The addition of HTS into Phase 0 will complement other COCOM socio-cultural efforts along with those throughout government, academia, and industry. Deployed teams will be tailored to meet the specific operational requirements of the COCOMs, the defense intelligence community and other U. S. Government (USG) customers. HTS has flexibility (organizations and methods) to meet COCOM-specific requirements and environmental constraints. HTS will augment existing COCOM Socio-cultural assets, filling current or projected capability gaps. This capability extends from the deployed social science research and data gathering capability attached to operational units, to socio-cultural analysis at the supported command, to the CONUS based HTS Reach-back Research Center (RRC):

      • Embedded teams, where needed.
      • Reachback socio-cultural research & analysis capability (with COCOM headquarters or in the continental United States [CONUS]).
      • Social science research & analysis (quantitative & qualitative). HTS provides operationally relevant socio-cultural support in the following areas:
      • Data acquisition and acquisition strategy.
      • Cultural friction points – identification of locations for detailed research focus.
      • Support to planning and socio-cultural research.
      • Expert advice on analytical methods and tools.
      • Support with doctrine and training.
      • Consolidated reach-back analytic support.
      • Application and tool validation.
      • Enduring capability to preserve local socio-cultural knowledge and monitor the area of operations during relief in place/transfer of authority (RIP/TOA) or when transitioning from Phase 5 (enable civil authority) to Phase 0 operations.

      COCOMs may request HTS support from the Army through Joint Staff resource channels. The support provided will be tailored to specified COCOM operational and environmental needs and may include assets to support brief expeditionary deployments or persistent deployments within the AO. HTS activity will be supported by a HTS liaison officer (LNO) element at the COCOM headquarters to ensure satisfaction of COCOM requirements.

      Regardless of the phase of operations, social science capabilities and socio-cultural understanding are a critical resource for COCOMs and decision makers when shaping and implementing theater engagement plans. Social science research and analysis capabilities can play a significant role prior to conflict and crisis in COCOM areas of interest. COCOMs will direct HTS research and analysis efforts focused toward gathering AOR relevant human terrain data and information in potential future trouble spots through directed field research deployments, research studies, and other open source research activities. These activities will enable conflict detection and effective deterrence (Phase 0), and if necessary enable responsive capacity building for the COCOM during crisis response and transition to sustained combat operations (Phases 1-4). Each COCOM currently uses an independently developed socio-cultural cell to provide analysis of the COCOM’s area of focus (AOF). These cells are primarily focused on open source analysis. In order to fill the socio-cultural knowledge gap, complementary tactical gathering and validation, with an organic reach-back capability can be provided by HTS. HTS provides personnel with field research or deployment experience and trained in the use of structured research methods in different social science disciplines. HTS will significantly enhance the COCOM’s current socio-cultural capability with the addition of trained personnel, reach-back support, and specialized database structure and access to the Cultural Knowledge Consortium (CKC). In addition, HTS will provide operationally relevant socio-cultural ground truth enabling commanders to make better informed decisions. Early coordination with the COCOM staff through a HTS LNO element is vital for HTS’ smooth integration and enduring mission support.
       
     




    • This site was last updated: March 24, 2011